Trade Pact Could Bar Governments From Auditing Source Code

Volkswagen’s infamous emissions-test-subverting software lurked in cars for years before it was discovered by regulators. The company got away with it for so long, in part, because it’s hard to actually tell what’s going on within the embedded computers of an automobile.

One way to deal with the issue would be to require that certain types of companies, like automakers, release the software code that powers their products to the public, so that researchers could evaluate deceitful practices as well as security flaws. A less extreme solution, suggested by Zeynep Tufekci in the New York Times this year, would be to simply require automakers to release code to auditors, the same way the manufacturers of casino slot machines must open their code to gambling regulators.

But if the international trade deal called the Trans-Pacific Partnership is adopted, the US and other member countries would be prohibited from requiring that companies from other member states hand over the source code of their products. Volkswagen’s home country Germany is not one of the TPP’s potential member states, so this restriction wouldn’t apply to that company, but it could potentially limit US regulators’ access to Japanese and South Korean cars, among other products. It could also put the kibosh on an idea proposed by Internet pioneer Vint Cerf and a group of other experts to require manufacturers to release the code that runs WiFi routers.

Article 14.17 of proposal, published at last today after years of secret negotiations, says: “No Party shall require the transfer of, or access to, source code of software owned by a person of another Party, as a condition for the import, distribution, sale or use of such software, or of products containing such software, in its territory.”

The proposal includes an exception for critical infrastructure, but it’s not clear whether software involved in life or death situations, such as cars, airplanes, or medical devices would be included.

Forcing companies to publish their source code won’t necessarily solve the problem of cheating or buggy software. Huge security problems have been known to linger for years in open source projects that had too few security audits. And there are ways to encourage companies to release their source code that don’t involve passing import laws. But the TPP, as written, would remove one powerful option in the fight to open the Internet of Things.

Share

Controversial Trade Deal May Actually Help Net Neutrality

The Trans-Pacific Partnership has its fair share of critics among the digerati. Activists have been up in arms for years over leaked chapters of this international trade proposal, which is under consideration by US law makers. These critics say that the proposal favors patent and copyright holders over consumers, and some worry that it could harm net neutrality—the notion that all Internet traffic should be treated equally.

The release of the full text of the agreement has done little to stem the complaints. Privacy advocates say the proposals privacy protections are too weak. But it’s not all bad news for digital rights groups. Some experts believe that the TTP could actually help with net neutrality.

Although it stops short of requiring that member states adopt network neutrality laws, the telecommunications chapter may give regulators authority to impose more strict rules on internet service providers, says John Bergmayer, a senior staff attorney at digital right advocacy organization Public Knowledge.

The proposal requires that member states ensure that businesses from other member states have access to public telecommunications services, including internet services, in all member states “on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditions.” The agreement doesn’t actually require countries to impose new laws, but it does require that member states give its regulators the authority to create regulations to ensure access if necessary.

The requirements also apply to “interconnection” deals—the agreements internet service providers strike to carry each other’s data—which must also be offered at “reasonable rates.” The proposal also calls for member states to ensure that telcos offer international roaming for mobile phones at “reasonable rates” and offer phone number portability between providers.

Room For Interpretation

There’s quite a bit of room for member states to interpret these requirements. The TPP mostly focuses on access to networks by businesses based in of member states. In other words, it requires that businesses in the US are not discriminated against by Japanese internet service providers, and vice versa. It will be up to regulatory agencies to decide what “reasonable rates” actually mean. It also leaves states free not to intervene if regulators decide that telecommunications providers voluntarily meet the requirements. But Bergmayer says that giving regulators the authority to ensure non-discrimination as the most significant part of the TPP’s telecommunications section.

Last February, the Federal Communications Commission voted in favor of reclassifying internet service providers as Title II common carriers, giving the agency the authority to ban providers from privileging some data on their networks over other data. Telcos have protested that the FCC doesn’t have the authority to make such a broad move and have filed a suit aimed at overturning the decision.

Under the terms of the TPP, however, it appears that the the FCC, or some other regulatory body, would be granted that authority. Bergmayer says the language of the text is very clear in classifying internet service providers as telecommunication service providers, and it explicitly spells out the requirement that regulators have the ability to set telecommunications policies.

‘Pretty Good’ Language

Electronic Frontier Foundation policy analyst Jeremy Malcolm agrees that this is a positive highlight in the TPP text, but argues that the net neutrality protections it offers are pretty weak. “It doesn’t cover blocking or filtering or anything else that we consider a part of net neutrality,” he says.

More broadly, he points to the myriad other ways the agreement disappoints the EFF and other digital rights groups. The data privacy section of the e-commerce chapter doesn’t go far enough to protect users, he says, and he worries that even the anti-spam section, which the group also supports, is too vague. And, of course, the intellectual property laws are largely what the the organization has long expected and critiqued.

Bergmayer agrees that the TPP proposal still has enormous problems that outweigh its benefits, and says that Public Knowledge still doesn’t support the agreement. “Nothing that I say is indicating that we’re happy with the TPP,” he says. “But looking at the telecom chapter in isolation, it contains a lot of language that I think is pretty good.”

Full Text of Controversial TPP Trade Deal Finally Released

The full text of the sweeping international trade agreement known as the Trans Pacific-Partnership, or TPP, has finally been released. You can find the entire agreement on the New Zealand government’s Foreign Affairs and Trade website. If approved by all 12 member countries, including the United States, the agreement would establish international standards for copyright enforcement, labor practices, environmental regulations, and much more.

TPP has had a somewhat controversial history to this point. The agreement between the United States, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and several other nations was negotiated out of the public eye, leading critics to argue that corporations and special interest groups had disproportionate input into the deal. Supporters of the agreement say it will help member countries increase increase exports, and that it will strengthen, not weaken, labor and environmental standards.

Here’s The Thing With Ad Blockers

We get it: Ads aren’t what you’re here for. But ads help us keep the lights on. So, add us to your ad blocker’s whitelist or pay $1 per week for an ad-free version of WIRED. Either way, you are supporting our journalism. We’d really appreciate it.